In Gross's Wake, Some Financial Advisers Eyeing a Pimco Exit

By Daisy Maxey and AnnaMaria Andriotis 

Bond king Bill Gross's departure from Pacific Investment Management Co. may be the final straw for some financial advisers who have been using the firm's funds for years.

While some advisers say they are staying with Pimco for now, others are eyeing the exit doors, perhaps to follow Mr. Gross to Janus Capital Group Inc.

"After today's news, I've basically decided I am going to leave Pimco Total Return Fund, most likely in favor of Lord Abbett Short Duration Income Fund," says Keith Amburgey, chief executive officer at Rutherford Asset Planning in Tampa, Fla., which manages $160 million in assets. "I was thinking about leaving that fund anyway for a variety of reasons--performance, senior-management changes, and also I have a preference for shorter-duration funds with an increasing likelihood of interest rates going up."

Mr. Gross will leave Pimco, the company he helped found in 1971, and join Janus Capital next week, Janus said in a release Friday. The bond investor will manage the recently launched Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, which opened in May and has just $12.9 million in assets, and related strategies, Janus said. He will start Monday with Janus in its new office in Newport Beach, Calif., the same city where Pimco is located.

Corrie Driebusch contributed to this article

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires